America's Airport Overhaul: The Billion-Dollar Terminal Pipeline Taking Shape in 2025–2026
The last time most American airports received major capital investment, smartphones didn't exist and the internet was still dial-up. That era is ending. A wave of terminal replacement projects — many in the $1 billion-plus range — is now either under construction or entering final design across the country, representing tens of billions of dollars in near-term work for the construction industry.
Six Airports Leading the Buildout
Construction Dive's review of major airport projects identified six programs that stand out for their scale and near-term timeline. Together, they illustrate how long-deferred airport capital investment is finally moving into active construction phases.
John Glenn International Airport (Columbus, Ohio) is undergoing a full terminal replacement — the existing facility has been in service since 1958. The $2 billion project broke ground recently, with the new 1-million-square-foot terminal expected to open in early 2029. Contractor Hensel Phelps is leading construction, delivering a facility with seven additional gates and parking for 5,000 vehicles.
Pittsburgh International Airport is completing a $1.57 billion modernization program that consolidates airline operations under a new landside terminal. The new structure is fully enclosed and on schedule, with interior work advancing toward opening in 2025. The construction management team includes Turner Construction and a joint venture of PJ Dick and Hunt, with Thornton Tomasetti serving as structural engineer.
Tampa International Airport broke ground in December 2024 on a $1.5 billion Airside D terminal featuring 16 new gates for international arrivals and departures. Tampa's first new airside terminal in nearly two decades, the project is led by a design-build team of Hensel Phelps, HNTB, and Gensler, with completion targeted for 2028. The airport currently handles 25 million passengers annually; it projects 35 million by 2037.
Nashville International Airport is executing its New Horizons expansion plan — a $1.5 billion program that expands two concourses, upgrades baggage handling systems, and renovates terminal roadways. The first phase completed in early 2025, and the overall program is expected to conclude by late 2028. Hensel Phelps is serving as construction manager, with a separate joint venture handling the $250 million Concourse D expansion.
Sacramento International Airport's $1.3 billion SMForward enhancement program encompasses seven concurrent or sequential projects: a pedestrian walkway, a new 5,500-vehicle parking garage (delivered by Sacramento-based, woman-owned Otto Construction), terminal expansions, a ground transportation center, and a rental car facility. Phased completions run through late 2026, with partial IIJA funding via a TIFIA low-interest loan supporting the program.
Newark Liberty International Airport is in planning for one of the most ambitious airport redevelopments in decades. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has allocated $55 million for preliminary design of a new Terminal B. Design firms Arup and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill are leading a two-to-three-year planning process that will determine cost estimates and delivery options for a comprehensive redevelopment including a new international terminal, Terminal C enhancements, and an AirTrain replacement.
What Is Driving the Buildout
Several forces are converging to push airport capital programs off the drawing board and into active construction. Post-pandemic passenger recovery has pushed volume at many airports past pre-2020 records. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act provided funding authority that created new financing pathways, including low-interest TIFIA loans for infrastructure projects. And a generation of terminal infrastructure — much of it built in the 1960s and 1970s — has simply reached the end of its functional life.
Swinerton, a major builder active in aviation work, noted in an industry analysis that 2026 airport terminals are increasingly focused on sustainability, advanced passenger technology, and resilient design — requirements that older facilities cannot meet through renovation alone, reinforcing the case for full replacement.
Implications for the Construction Market
Airport construction is a specialized market that tends to concentrate work among a relatively small number of experienced contractors — Hensel Phelps, Turner, Balfour Beatty, PCL, and a handful of regional leaders. But these programs generate substantial downstream demand: structural steel, concrete, glazing, mechanical systems, baggage handling technology, airfield paving, and years of phased interior finishes work.
The programs listed above represent only six projects. HNTB's annual infrastructure report and other industry tracking sources indicate that major capital improvement programs are also advancing at airports in Atlanta, Denver, Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York — a pipeline broad enough to sustain elevated aviation construction activity well into the 2030s.
For owners and developers tracking the construction market, the airport sector represents one of the more predictable long-cycle pipelines available. These programs are publicly funded, heavily scrutinized, and tend to follow through once design is complete — making them reliable indicators of labor and materials demand in the markets where they are built.
A Note on Scale and Labor
Airport terminal construction is among the more labor-intensive categories in the commercial building sector. These are complex, heavily engineered facilities that combine structural steel and concrete, extensive MEP systems, specialized aviation technology (baggage handling, HVAC pressurization, airfield lighting), and high-end interior finishes — all while adjacent to live, operating facilities that cannot pause. That operational constraint makes schedule management and phasing uniquely demanding compared to greenfield industrial construction.
The labor and subcontractor demand generated by active programs like the ones in Columbus, Tampa, and Nashville ripples through local markets in measurable ways. A single billion-dollar terminal program typically sustains 1,000 to 2,000 trade workers at peak, and pulls from virtually every major construction trade. For regional subcontractors, landing a role in a multi-year airport program — even in a niche scope — can anchor a company's workload for half a decade.
The industry-wide implication is clear: airport construction has returned as a durable demand segment, and the pipeline runs deep enough to sustain elevated activity well into the next decade. For owners and developers assessing regional construction costs and availability, the concentration of airport work in specific markets — Columbus, Pittsburgh, Tampa, Nashville, Sacramento, and Newark in the near term — is worth factoring into project scheduling and subcontractor outreach strategies.
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